The Vancouver Giants came to play, but the Prince George Cougars didn’t.
Calgary Flames prospect Jaden Lipinski found the back of the net three times as the Giants steam-rolled the Cougars 6-1 in front of more than 2,300 fans at the CN Centre.
Warning. Hot surface. Do not touch. @WHLGiants | @NHLFlames | #WHLHatTricks pic.twitter.com/dEG6ENRBCJ
— The WHL (@TheWHL) November 16, 2023
Lipinski started the scoring 4:12 into the game, and it was all Vancouver for the rest of the first.
Ty Halaburda notched a shorthanded marker and Lipinski scored his second to give Vancouver a 3-0 lead after one.
Ty Halaburda is a one-man band!@WHLGiants pic.twitter.com/ruJnWFNd6X
— The WHL (@TheWHL) November 16, 2023
The very small silver lining for the Cougars came 5:49 into the second, as Ondrej Becher potted his 13th of the season.
Make that 32 points for Ondrej so far this season! https://t.co/Y9jVlS2JXT pic.twitter.com/xJ8afxo1s7
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) November 16, 2023
Riley Heidt and Koehn Ziemmer drew the assists.
Trailing 5-1, the Cougars had a chance to seize momentum early in the third period as the Giants found themselves in penalty trouble to start the final frame.
This included a pair of five-on-threes.
Instead of finding the back of the net, the Cougars’ powerplay found the post four times in the first several minutes of the third.
“We had some chances but they got to go in,” coach Mark Lamb said.
“That’s three times in the last few games we had a five-on-three and haven’t scored. That’s unacceptable. You’re creating a little bit, but the chemistry is just not there right now.”
It was a scrappy game, as the Cougars found themselves shorthanded eight times, while the Giants were shorthanded nine times.
Jakob Oreskovic and Adam Titlbach also scored for the Giants.
Brett Mirwald was incredible in net for the Giants, stopping 38 of the 39 shots he faced.
In addition to Mirwald’s strong play, the Giants skaters got in front of several Cougars shots.
The start of the game was delayed by nearly twenty minutes as the ice needed to be resurfaced a second time before the puck dropped.
If you watched last night’s game you wouldn’t believe it, but the Cougars (14-6-0-0) are at the top of the WHL’s standings, tied for the league lead in points with the Medicine Hat Tigers. (13-6-2-0)
The full WHL standings can be found here.
The Cougars will look to exact their revenge on the Giants on Friday at the Langley Events Centre.
The full Cougars Schedule can be found here.